** NOTE EARLY START!!** Doors open 7pm for a 7.30pm start.
The 31st tour for this band of friends! We are delighted to welcome Feast of Fiddles‘s 2026 lineup back to WemsFest! Join us for an incredible evening of live music with Garry Blakeley, Hugh Crabtree, Mark Jolley, Dave Harding, Tom Leary, Dave Mattacks, Martin Vincent, Marion Fleetwood, Simon Swarbrick, and Phil Beer
Born in Nettlebed on Valentine’s Day 1994 as a one-off special concert, Feast of Fiddles has done 30 spring tours, nearly as many festivals, and has 7 CDs to its name. Not bad for a bunch of old folk-rockers!
This is a band of friends that puts on a show of huge dynamic range performed with passion, joy and a liberal dose of fun. Fiddlers Garry Blakeley (Band of Two), Marion Fleetwood (Trad Arr, Sandy Denny Project), Mark Jolley (Banter), Simon Swarbrick (Merry Hell), Tom Leary (Joe Brown), Phil Beer (Show of Hands) bring a large range of fiddle playing styles to the rock back-line – all held together by melodeon player and compere Hugh Crabtree, guitar player Martin Vincent, bass player Dave Harding, and legendary drummer Dave Mattacks. As this is the 30th anniversary of the band you can expect to see and hear past member special guests along the way. Keep an eye open for tour news on our website. This is a live music entertainment like no other on the circuit which is guaranteed to be enjoyed by even the most doubting of friends dragged along!
“Absolutely awesome!” – Sue Marchant, BBC East
“Britain’s fiddling supergroup” – Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2
“The best fiddle players of a generation” – Ian A Anderson
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance at adwemsfest@gmail.com or 07802 500 050 and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.
Please don’t try to park on Church Path or the other small local roads – there is plenty of free car parking in local car parks, on Bridge Street and behind Tesco Express on North Street.
Rum Ragged
JUNO Award Nominees, Rum Ragged, take a bold approach to the distinct folk music of their home, the Eastern Canadian island of Newfoundland. With a reverence for their roots and a creative, contemporary edge, this young band has quickly become known as the finest performers of their great, living, musical tradition.
Boasting bouzouki, fiddle, bodhran, banjo, guitar, and button accordion, these new champions of East Coast music enliven and enlighten audiences with their signature brand of Newfoundland folk. Always honest, thought-provoking, and often humorous, it’s Rum Ragged’s live show that makes them a fast favourite with any audience. Their combination of striking vocal harmonies, staggering musicianship, and captivating storytelling gives concert-goers an experience they won’t soon forget.
Since their inception in 2016, Rum Ragged has maintained a rigorous tour schedule, performing at some of the world’s premier folk, celtic and roots venues all while managing to record four acclaimed, award-winning studio albums. Rum Ragged is not your run-of-the-mill folk band, they are the genuine article.
Rum Ragged will play The Old Malthouse (AKA Chidham Village Hall, Main Road, Chidham, West Sussex, PO18 8TP) on Saturday 24th January
Doors open 7.30pm for an 8pm show.
Unreserved seating
As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks
This year our charity bucket on the bar is fundraising for Cardiac Risk in the Young, and all profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance at adwemsfest@gmail.com or 07802 500 050 and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.
Lucca Mae & her band – with support from Michael & Sadie Roach – 4th Emsworth ‘January Blues’ Festival – in association with Harbour Records
Lucca Mae is a rising star on the burgeoning London Soul / Rock‘n’Roll scene. Taking cues from the likes of Sam Cooke, Amy Winehouse & Paolo Nutini, her singing, songwriting, and performance is second to none.
With sold out gigs under her belt in the UK, Australia & Canada, alongside her solo weekly residency at the legendary Marquis Covent Garden, Lucca Mae is well underway and is taking over the UK, one gig at a time.
We are delighted to have her opening up our 4th Emsworth ‘January Blues’ Festival! Presented in association with Harbour Records, this weekend festival will feature two nights of ticketed shows at St James Church Parish Hall on Friday and Saturday night, and a Saturday afternoon of FREE performances at various pubs in Emsworth.
“As far as I’m concerned The London scene is Lucca Mae, Laurie Wright & The Molotovs” ~ Steve White (Paul Weller/Style Council drummer)
“Outstanding, I want to play drums on her album.” ~ (Alan White – Oasis drummer)
“She’s got a beautiful voice… tell her to holler when she comes out to LA” ~ Tom Brenneck, Dunham Records
Lucca Mae – with support from Michael & Sadie Roach – will play St James Church Parish Hall (20A Church Path, Emsworth, Hampshire, PO10 7DP) on Friday 16th January
Doors open 7.30pm for an 8pm show
Unreserved seating
As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks
This year our charity bucket on the bar is fundraising for Cardiac Risk in the Young, and all profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested into our local community
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance at adwemsfest@gmail.com or 07802 500 050 and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.
InOurArea Creative Cafe: An informal gathering to discuss and collaborate on local projects
In 2023, WemsFest launched a new initiative, ‘InOurArea’. We hope that this will be a regular opportunity for thinkers, doers, artists, activists, anyone who has an idea and wants to find local like minds to help discuss and collaborate!
We had a fantastic turnout at our inaugural InOurArea event in November 2023 – loads of connections made and ideas shared. Our second InOurArea event in November 2024 progressed discussion around a number of local topics including the idea of a year-round programme of cultural events in Emsworth.
We want to keep momentum growing amongst locals who are interested to be involved in making Emsworth and the surrounding area an even better place to live! Therefore, the third ‘InOurArea’ Creative Cafewill take place on Sat 8th February from 4-6pm, upstairs at The Crown Inn, Emsworth, PO10 7AW.
Bring an old friend or meet someone new Stay 10 minutes or 2 hours Share your idea or learn about others’
Wine and cheese provided by WemsFest to help lubricate any nervous introductions!
Please RSVP to Mark at adwemsfest@gmail.com so we know how much wine and cheese to order…
Let’s enjoy, discuss, and collaborate!
Jo Harman (and band)
A warm welcome to Emsworth for one of the most talented Blues artists to emerge in the past 20 years – Jo Harman will be the closing act for the 3rd Emsworth Blues Festival, presented by WemsFest and Harbour Records over the weekend of 17-18 January 2025.
Widely regarded as one of Europe’s finest ever soul/blues fuelled voices, Jo Harman is an international touring and recording artist who remains a genre-defying, independently minded artist of rare credibility. An artist who makes sincere and heartfelt music, The Mirror proclaimed her ‘UK’s finest female soul blues voice’ who, according to Classic Rock, writes ‘lip-biting beautiful songs’.
Jo released her second studio album ‘People We Album’ to much critical acclaim (see accolades at foot of the page) and no little commercial success. Indeed the ‘lead single’, ‘When We Were Young’ (featuring Michael McDonald) achieved BBC Radio 2 play-listing, as well as play listing on other mainstream national stations across Ireland (RTE1) and Europe. The album has also made various ‘best of’ lists, internationally.
‘Sometimes you hear a voice that leaves you speechless’ – Huey Morgan, Fun Loving Criminals on his BBC Radio 2 show
‘On course to be the finest UK female blues soul voice’ – Gavin Martin, Daily Mirror
‘Cracking rootsy blues singer well known to festival audiences’ – Mail On Sunday
‘What a voice!’ – Classic Rock Magazine
‘Stunning. Harman’s music mainlines the human soul’ – Classic Rock Blues Magazine
‘It was my great privilege to work with her. Listening to her interpret one of my songs was a spiritual experience’ – Michael McDonald (Soul superstar and Doobie Brothers frontman)
‘I believe this lady to be one of the finest singers this country has to offer! She really is tremendous! I hope our paths cross again’ – Rag N Bone Man
‘An exquisite album rooted in the classic, timeless music of past generations, and quite possibly the finest blue eyed soul vocal performance you’ll hear all year.’ – Get Ready To Rock
‘Jo mines pop, soul and gritty blues with conviction’ – The Daily Mirror
‘Jo Harman is an incredibly believable and soulful singer…perhaps right now UK’s finest’ – Chris Wells, Editor, Echoes
‘Just Stunning’ – Mail On Sunday
Licensed bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks. All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.
Please park considerately. Church Path is parking for residents only, but there is plenty of free parking in town car parks off Bridge Street and Palmers Road.
The Bex Marshall Band
Raunchy blues-rock from the lady who wears her heart on her sleeve – Bex Marshall will be the opening act for the 3rd Emsworth Blues Festival, presented by WemsFest and Harbour Records over the weekend of 17-18 January 2025.
‘….at last a woman who plays guitar like a goddess, sings like an angel, writes like Dylan and smiles like the devil’ – Booker T.
UK British Blues Award winner and 4 time European Blues Awards nomineeBex Marshall’s unique style of guitar playing is a combined technique of slide, blues rock, ragtime and roots pickin’.
Her voice is a powerful melting pot of old black woman’s heartache and rock diva soul. Bex is a writer of distinction and notability. She pushes the boundaries of blues. Her songs have been called ‘timeless touches of genius’, and now she tours internationally solo or with a three-piece band which augments her unique style of of virtuoso playing. Born In Plymouth, Devon, she was the product of two very different families: blue-blooded landed gentry (her great grandfather was the Squire of Cornwall) and Irish Romany (her great grandmother was the original fairground fortune teller Madam Olga).
As a child at family gatherings, her uncles would always play and stand her on the table to sing. At 11 years old she was given a 1963 Gibson Hummingbird by her Uncle David and started playing – she got hooked on instrumentals and classical guitar standards, which stretched her fingers and gave her a great basis for her own music to develop: flamenco, ragtime, country chicken pickin’, rock, and on to blues and roots where she is now in her element.
She always had a passion for travelling; it is in her blood. Trained as a croupier at 18, she began her travels around the world working gaming tables on cruise liners to Park Lane, even dealing illegal poker games in Amsterdam. She hitchhiked the coast of Australia on cattle trains – always with a guitar on her back, living and storing tales.
‘Bex Marshall is a heartwrenching singer, a dazzling guitarist, and a charismatic stage presence. Whatever she does, you’re in safe hands… but heh, not TOO safe’ – Charles Shaar Murray
‘…sounds like a breakthrough album’– Rock n Reel (R2) UK
‘…Marshall’s album is of such class and maturity, without an apparent weakness or filler’ – Blues Matters UK
‘…As a writer she’s mastered the art of making new material sound like its been found in long-forgotten vaults’ –Net Rhythms UK
‘…She has harnessed the power of the blues without resorting to cliché or plagiarism’ – Spiral Earth UK
‘…deserves wider recognition for her spit and saw dust vocals and fluid resonator guitar licks’ – Classic Rock Magazine UK
‘..Marshall’s competent axework has Mark Knopfler’s feathery touch’ – LA Weekly US
‘…the blues ‘Black Guitar’ culminates in a slide guitar clamour Derek Trucks would be pleased to call his own’ – Downbeat Magazine US
‘…a younger version of Bonnie Raitt. Seldom do we hear such blues inflected rawness in female guitar players and its so refreshing to hear it done with such authenticity and assurance’ – Folk and Roots Magazine UK
‘…..Bex Marshall’s voice draws up the ghosts of old blues women’s heartaches’ – Outlaw Magazine US
‘…the absolute stand out on this album is Marshall’s vocals’ – Root of Rock Magazine NZ
‘….She has all those essential vocal frailties that make the difference between soul and soulful’ – Folk and Roots Magazine UK
Bex’s first release ‘Bootlace’ was released on Numinous Records in 2002. Her second album ‘Kitchen Table’ (released May 2008) pushed Bex to number 13 in the USA ‘UK artists chart’ and number 20 in the USA national Americana Music Association Chart. ‘The House Of Mercy’, released Sept 17th 2012, received stunning reviews worldwide along with her stand out sessions recorded for Paul Jones‘s & Bob Harris’ BBC radio 2 shows. ‘The House Of Mercy’ won 3rd Best British Blues Album of the year Award 2013 and is featured in DOWNBEAT magazine’s ‘Best Album of the Year’ list 2013 with a rare 4-star review. Guests musicians on the record are Don Wayne Reno (banjo), Dale Reno (mandolin) & Jake Byers (acoustic bass), all from Hayseed Dixie, plus B J Cole (dobro), Eileen Healy (fiddle) and Brigitte DeMeyer adding backing vocals, along with The Bex Marshall Band of Barry Payne (acoustic bass), Crispin Taylor (drums), Danny Bryan (percussion), Toby Baker (keyboards) and newest edition, gospel singer Shola Adegorove.
Bex Marshall’s brand new album ‘Fortuna’ was released and distributed through Dixiefrog Records in March 2024 alongside three single releases supporting the album: ‘5am’, ‘I Cant Look You In The Eye’ (remixed & re-released) & ‘Preaching To The Choir’.
Licensed bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks. All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.
Please park considerately. Church Path is parking for residents only, but there is plenty of free parking in town car parks off Bridge Street and Palmers Road.
The Soul Train! with DJs Richard ‘Tricky’ Marsh & Martin Jackson
Back by popular demand! The ‘Express’ steams into town with carriages full of your favourite music.
Richard ‘Tricky’ Marsh and Martin Jackson spin 60s and 70s Soul, R&B, Motown, Stax, Atlantic, Rare Groove, and Northern Soul mainly on vinyl. A night for filling the dance floor !
Tricky’s radio show on The Flash – DAB+ to the Portsmouth area every Friday 7-9pm is one of the most popular on the station. Come out for yet another fantastic evening in Westbourne Community Hall!
Late bar – with G&Ts this time!
Licensed bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks. All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.
Please park considerately.
InOurArea Creative Cafe: An informal gathering to discuss and collaborate on local projects
Last year, WemsFest launched a new initiative, ‘InOurArea’. We hope that this will be a regular opportunity for thinkers, doers, artists, activists, anyone who has an idea and wants to find local like minds to help discuss and collaborate!
We had a fantastic turnout at our inaugural InOurArea event last November – loads of connections made, ideas shared, and projects progressed.
The second ‘InOurArea’ Creative Cafe will take place on Sat 23rd Nov from 4-6pm, upstairs at The Crown Inn, Emsworth, PO10 7AW.
Bring an old friend or meet someone new Stay 10 minutes or 2 hours Share your idea or learn about others’
Wine and cheese provided by WemsFest to help lubricate any nervous introductions! Please RSVP to Mark at adwemsfest@gmail.com so we know how much wine and cheese to order…
Let’s enjoy, discuss, and collaborate!
Irrelevant Elephant & DJ Mark Covell (Special BBC Children In Need event)
Irrelevant Elephant bring their funky dance tunes back to Westbourne following their hugely successful debut last year. DJ Mark Covell will, again, take over where they leave off with a melange of music to keep the dance floor filled until midnight as ‘Disco for Oldies’ takes over.
10% of ticket income and all donations go to BBC Children In Need.
Late bar (no admission after 10pm)
Irrelevant Elephantare a 7-piece jazz funk outfit from our hometown! Featuring a threepiece horn section, keyboards, guitar, drums & bass, offering a selection of jazz, Latin & funk styles, from Donny Hathaway to Brother Strut, their sound is mostly up-tempo & definitely danceable.
DJ Mark Covell is another local whom we are delighted to welcome back to WemsFest, to ensure the lights are flashing, the dance floor is filled, and the party is on. Mark brings an equal passion to DJing as he did to winning an Olympic sailing medal or racing in The America’s Cup. He is as adept at making the dance floor move as he is dynamically DJing and commentating on sporting events around the world.
Licensed bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks. All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.
Please park considerately.
Justin Adams & Mauro Durante
An acclaimed collaboration between Robert Plant‘s former guitarist Justin Adams, and Italian fiddle, guitar, and percussion player Mauro Durante. Their music is rooted in the fascinating tradition of Taranta – the healing rituals of Southern Italy. It’s atmospheric and hugely danceable.
Justin Adams, guitarist, producer and composer, has been a chief collaborator with Robert Plant in his band, the Sensational Spaceshifters, co-writing a series of 4 albums and touring the world. His production on landmark albums by Tinariwen and Rachid Taha highlight his feel for North African groove, while his award-winning project with Gambian maestro Juldeh Camara, ‘JUJU’, linked griot tradition with raw blues spirit. His recent solo album of guitar atmospherics, ‘Ribbons’, was cited amongst the top 50 albums of the past decade by Songlines magazine.
Mauro Durante toured the world for many years with Ludovico Einaudi playing violin and frame drums. He is one of the leading players in the pizzica style of Southern Italy and leads Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, who have played great festivals all over the world. Last year CSG were featured in their own concert at the BBC Proms (where Justin Adams guested with them) and they won Best Group in the Songlines Music Awards.
This new collaboration stems from a concert led by Ludovico Einaudi, the Notte della Taranta in Puglia, where the two first played together, recognising kindred spirits in the trance rhythms of Taranta which transcend “melancolia” or the blues. Together they create a raw, stripped-back sound that moves and mesmerises.
Licensed bar helps support WemsFest – As always, we’ll have our licensed bar serving delicious beers from Langham Brewery as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks. All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.
If you require special assistance or have mobility difficulties, please contact us in advance and we will do our very best to accommodate you so that you are comfortable.
The Barleycorn Tavern, which is a stone’s throw from the Village Hall, are very kindly offering ticket holders 2 for 1 meals before the concert. You’ll need to call them and book at least 3 days before the event, and will need to show either your ticket or your WeGotTickets.com email.
as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks
Tickets on sale now at Bookends and Harbour Records in Emsworth village, at The Westbourne Cafe in Westbourne Village, and online at www.WeGotTickets.com/WemsFest
as well as wines, local cider, nonalcoholic beers, and soft drinks. All profits from bar and ticket sales are reinvested in the local community.
